Great Sarawak Tour (8D7N)

Kuching, Batang Ai, Bako and Mulu Nationalpark

Itinerary: Great Sarawak Tour
Duration: 8Days / 7Nights

Day 1; Arrival in Kuching (A)

Upon arrival at Kuching International Airport, your tour guide will escort you to your hotel in Kuching and assist you with the check-in.

In the evening, together with your tour guide, you will take a short walk to the "Top Spot Seafood Center", which is just a 5-minute walk from the Pullman Hotel. On a spacious terrace, several shops offer Asian delicacies ranging from Malaysian to Western cuisine. A special specialty is the variety of local seafood. Enjoy your first night in Sarawak with an al fresco dinner and the delights that this wonderful land has to offer

After dinner, return to your hotel.

Overnight in your hotel in Kuching

Day 2; Kuching – Semenggoh Orang Utan Rehabilitationszentrum - Batang Ai (B/L)

After a hearty breakfast, start the day with a drive to the Semenggok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center.

Located 30 km south of Kuching, the rehabilitation center offers one of the rare opportunities to observe the "Wild Man of Borneo" up close in its natural habitat. This rehabilitation center was set up to help orangutans freed from captivity, or found injured in the rainforest, to re-establish a life in the wild. The animals can move freely in the forest on a site of 700 hectares, admiring these mighty primates as they walk from tree to tree with admirable ease. With a maximum body weight of up to 90 kg male representatives of this species, you will be able to spot the approach of the orangutans early on due to the highly sagging trees. During the feeding season you have the unique opportunity to observe this endangered species up close.

Before the feeding time begins, a short walk through the pristine rainforest will give you a first glimpse of the stunning nature of Sarawak.

After visiting the rehabilitation center, continue your drive along the Pan Borneo Highway through picturesque landscapes to the Batang Ai dam located approximately 270km east of Kuching. Stopover in the city of Serian to visit the daily fresh produce market. Here locals sell vegetables, fruits and if you are lucky also a special type of worm, which is considered a delicacy and can also be eaten raw. After a pause of about 30 minutes, continue your journey and visit a pepper farm along the way to learn more about planting and harvesting this export to Sarawak. Another stop on the Pan Borneo Highway will take you to a roadside location where you can see the famous pitcher plants, an exotic plant that feeds on insects, and wild orchids. You will have your lunch near the border to the Indonesian part of Borneo in a small Chinese settlement called "Lachau", about 140km from Kuching, in a simple restaurant. There is also the possibility to buy gifts for the Iban families. Please keep in mind that the gifts should be divisible among the families, there are also images from the European homeland, which usually causes a discussion about this, for the Iban, foreign world.

After lunch, continue your drive to Batang Ai Dam. This final part of the journey will take you along rubber and palm oil farms to the jetty at the dam, from where you will board a ferry which will take you across the reservoir to the Aiman Batang Ai Resort & Retreat in about 30 minutes. This resort was built in 1995 in the style of Iban longhouses amidst the unique nature of this pristine rainforest.

Upon arrival, your travel companion will assist you with the check-in and the rest of the day is at your leisure to take advantage of the resort's diverse offerings.

Overnight at the resort.

Day 3: Longhouse Visit Batang Ai (B/L)

Breakfasts at the resort.

In the early morning, together with your travel companion, you will board a traditional Iban longboat, which is operated with an outboard motor. A fascinating drive over the reservoir with its picturesque landscape will lead you to one of the Iban longhouses.

Upon your arrival, your traveling companion will guide you through the nave and give you more information about the Iban lifestyle and culture. The Ibans will give you a taste of the traditional war dance in the war clothes of that time. Iban musicians accompany this event on old Chinese gongs, which are still from the trading time with Chinese traders. Now it is time to hand over the gifts brought to the chief of the longhouse and to drink their home-brewed rice wine with the Iban. Take this opportunity to talk with your travel companion and the Iban and enjoy the hospitality of this dreaded people. After lunch at the Longhouse, you will learn how to handle the traditional and dreaded weapon of the Iban, the blowgun, and then return by long-boat to the Aiman Batang Ai Resort & Retreat.

Overnight at the resort

Day 4; Batang Ai – Kuching (B/L)

After breakfast, you will board the ferry and return to the dam's jetty and air-conditioned van to Kuching.

We will make a short stop on the way back to "Lachau" to refresh us. You will have your lunch at a local restaurant located at a beautiful small waterfall. This place is known as the "Ranchang Pool" and on weekends a popular destination for the Malaysian people. Take a walk along the paths around the waterfall while your lunch is being prepared. Continue to the Pullman Hotel after lunch. Your travel companion will assist you at check-in.

Overnight in your hotel

Day 5; Day trip Bako Nationalpark (B/L)

Breakfast in the hotel. After breakfast, continue your program with a visit to the famous Bako National Park.

The Bako National Park was established in 1957 as the first Sarawak National Park. At the same time Kuching the nearest national park, Bako opens an excellent insight into the different types of vegetation in Borneo. The diverse wildlife of Bakos offers good chances to observe proboscis monkeys, the famous bearded pigs, Silberhueb languren and Makkaken. The different types of vegetation provide habitat for fascinating carnivorous plants to wild orchids. By setting up overnight accommodations in simple cabins, it is also possible to make multi-day visits.

Together with your travel companion you will start your full-day visit to the Bako National Park in the early morning. The air-conditioned van will take you from Kuching to the picturesque fishing village of Bako and board a speedboat at the boat dock. The boat ride will take approximately 30 minutes and will take you along the river to the sea and Bako National Park. After the visitor registration you start your hike through this beautiful national park with its many scenic attractions. Keep quiet and keep an eye out for animals such as the proboscis, silver hoods, langurs, macque, bearded pigs, monitor lizards and the many different species of birds. They walk through various types of vegetation such as mangrove forest, Dipterocarp trees, beach and cliff vegetation. Along the paths of Bako you will find various exotic plants such as the famous carnivorous pitcher plants and wild orchids.

A simple lunch consisting of rice and simple local dishes is served in the park canteen.

After lunch, you and your guide will explore another of the many trails in the National Park, or relax in the vicinity of the canteen and look for more wild animals on your own.

The trip ends with another boat trip from the boat dock of the National Park back to the fishing village of Bako and from there by van back to Kuching

Overnight in your hotel in Kuching.

The Batang Ai and Bako National Park Package includes:

Transfers and tours as stated in the travel program
Meals as stated in the travel program
3 nights in Pullman Hotel (Deluxe)
2 nights at Aiman Batang Ai Resort & Retreat (Standard)
English speaking tour guide
Entrance fees to national parks

Day 6; Kuching – Mulu/ Deer & Lang’s Caves (B)

After Breakfast, your guide will meet you in the Hotel lobby for the transfer to the international Airport in Kuching. Recommended flights MH3823 ETD: 11:20h ETA: 12:55h (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday) or MH3752 ETD:12:50h ETA: 14:25h (Tuesday, Friday & Sunday)

Upon arrival at Mulu National Park airstrip, you will be met by your travel companion and drive to the Mulu Marriott Resort & Spa, located in the middle of the densely wooded area of the National Park.

At 14:00, you will leave the resort and proceed to the registration office of the National Park. After registration, you will walk along a 3km plank path through the typical Dipterocarp forest and swamp forest of Borneo to the "Lang's Cave". This cave was named after a guide who discovered it in 1979. Cave curtains and the wonderful stalactite formations characterize the beauty of this small and unique cave. The path through the cave is 25m short and you will after exploring the cave to the "Deer Cave" push forward. The "Deer Cave" has a width of 150m and a height of 120m over the largest cave entrance in the world. As you enter the cave, you will notice a scent that is typical of the cave, originating in millions of bats that live in the cave and leave the cave in the evening to look for food. The path through the cave is about 1km long until you come to the southern entrance, which is also known under the name "The Garden of Eden". After leaving this huge cave you will observe the bats leaving the cave at an established observation point. This is an event that will be remembered for a long time, admiring millions of bats coming out of the cave in swarms and hunting in the surrounding rainforest.

At nightfall, you will walk along the plank path on the way back to the resort.

Overnight at the resort

Day 7; Mulu Nationalpark/ Wind & Clearwater Caves (B/L)

Breakfast at the resort.

After breakfast, you will board a longboat and travel upriver from the Melinau River to Wind Cave. This spectacular cave is famous for its tall, slender stalactites and stalagmites. The "King's Chamber" offers a view of carrot-like formations of these stalactites. After visiting the "Wind Cave", which got its name from a wind that comes from the cave and is felt at the entrance, you will visit the "Clearwater Cave". Together with your travel companion you will explore this cave, which has the longest underground water system (106km) in Southeast Asia. Enjoy the clear water in the natural pool that has formed outside the cave. After a picnic, return to the resort.

Overnight at the resort.